An afternoon of events to celebrate the accomplishments of Osgoode Hall Law School’s faculty and graduate students took place on Nov. 12, and highlighted the significance of collaboration in research.
The half-day event entitled “The Power of Collaboration Research Celebration” was also an opportunity to mark Osgoode’s 50th year at York University, and showcase the school’s new Research Hub and Media Innovation & Creativity Lab (M!C).
Beginning with an open house at M!C, those in attendance were offered tours of the visitor, post-doctoral and artist-in-residence spaces. It is an interdisciplinary research facility that provides a working environment that allows researchers to transform their work into image-based media forms, including documentaries, video art and photography. Some of the research documentaries and research bytes were screened at the event.
Osgoode Dean Lorne Sossin
The agenda continued with a lunch, staff recognitions and panel discussions exploring the theme of collaboration in research.
To kick off this segment of the event, Osgoode Dean Lorne Sossin and Associate Vice-President Research Sushanta Mitra offered some opening remarks on the success of the research coming out of Osgoode.
Sossin remarked on the level of activity, the vibrancy and the level of the commitment to the Research Hub project, saying it is “really unparalleled” and citing it as being a “source of enormous pride as Dean.”
Mitra echoed the sentiment, and said Osgoode Hall Law School is a vibrant community of engaged students, staff, faculty and alumni who continue to “advance legal research in Canada and abroad.”
“Today’s celebration offers an opportunity to highlight the research excellence of Osgoode,” he said.
Faculty recognized for recent appointments and awards were then highlighted, and included:
- Professor Stephanie Ben-Ishai, tenure and promotion
- Professor Benjamin Berger, awarded Canadian Association of Law Teachers (CALT) Prize for Academic Excellence for 2014-15
- Professor Faisal Bhabha, tenure and promotion
- Professor Obiora Okafor, appointed the inaugural Tier 1 York Research Chair in International and Transnational Legal Studies
Faisal Bhabha
Dayna Scott and Shiri Pasternak
Two panel discussions followed, and supported the theme of collaboration. The first panel, “The Power of Collaboration”, featured professors Dayna Scott, Faisal Bhabha and post-doctoral fellow Shiri Pasternak, who each shared rapid-fire presentations on their collaborative and interdisciplinary projects.
The panelists, who presented their reflections separately, remarked on the value of collaboration – not just with other academics but with other practitioners, community members and stakeholders.
A second panel followed, and featured professors Allan Hutchinson, Margaret Beare and Aaron Dhir who explored the topic of “The Collaboration of Power”.
Panel discussions wrapped up with closing remarks, and an invitation to participate in a knowledge mobilization workshop facilitated by York’s Knowledge Mobilization Unit.
By Ashley Goodfellow Craig, YFile deputy editor